Former Wisconsin Badgers star Johnny Davis signs Exhibit 10 deal with the Bucks
Johnny Davis is coming home. The former Wisconsin Badgers star signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Milwaukee Bucks and will join their G League affiliate, the Herd.
Former La Crosse Central star and Wisconsin Badgers standout Johnny Davis is coming home. Once the face of Wisconsin men’s basketball and one of the most decorated players in program history, Davis now finds himself back in his home state, fighting to revive his professional career.
The Wisconsin Herd, the G League affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks franchise, acquired Davis in a trade with the Westchester Knicks that sent the returning player rights to Diego Bernard and Jalen Lewis, along with two 2026 G League draft picks, to complete the deal.
It’s a fresh start for the 23-year-old guard, who’s spent the past couple of seasons searching for the same success he once had with the Badgers.
For Davis, this move represents an opportunity to rebuild some confidence, reclaim consistency, and prove he still belongs in the league that once viewed him as a high-level NBA Draft prospect back in 2022.
From hometown hero to NBA lottery pick
Before the NBA came calling, Johnny Davis was Wisconsin basketball.
The La Crosse Central legend was a composite three-star recruit and 2020 Wisconsin Mr. Basketball. He joined the Badgers alongside his twin brother, Jordan Davis, as part of Greg Gard’s 2020 recruiting class that featured Steven Crowl, Lorne Bowman, Ben Carlson, and Carter Gilmore.
It didn’t take long for him to make an impression.
Davis played in all 31 games as a freshman, averaging 7.0 points and 4.1 rebounds while earning a reputation as a hard-nosed defender and fearless competitor on a veteran-laden roster that included D’Mitrik Trice, Micah Potter, Brad Davison, Aleem Ford, and Nate Reuvers, among others.
But it was Davis’s sophomore campaign that put him on the map.
During the 2021–22 season, Davis averaged 19.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game en route to earning Big Ten Player of the Year, the Lute Olson National Player of the Year, and consensus First-Team All-American honors. He helped carry Wisconsin to a Big Ten regular-season title that season. He authored one of the best individual seasons in program history and became a household name in college basketball.
That dominance led him to become the 10th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, where the Washington Wizards made Davis one of the highest-selected Wisconsin players ever. He was the first Badger drafted during the Gard era, and the program’s first first-round selection since Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker were taken in 2015. But his NBA transition was rocky.
Over three seasons with Washington, Davis appeared in 112 games (11 starts), averaging 3.5 points and 1.6 rebounds in 11.4 minutes a game.
He bounced back and forth between the Washington Wizards and their G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go, struggling to carve out a consistent role at the next level while shooting an uninspiring 39.7% from the field, 27.3% from beyond the arc, and 56.1% from the free-throw line.
His best performance came in April 2023, when he dropped 20 points against the Milwaukee Bucks, offering a glimpse of the scoring punch that once defined him in college. But flashes weren’t enough to earn a role.
Washington dealt Davis to the Memphis Grizzlies at the 2025 trade deadline in a package that included Marvin Bagley III and multiple draft picks in exchange for Marcus Smart, Colby Jones, Alex Len, and a 2025 first-round pick. Shortly thereafter, Memphis waived him without a single appearance. The former lottery pick, once viewed as a foundational piece for the Wizards’ rebuild, suddenly found himself without an NBA home.
That led him to the Westchester Knicks, New York’s G League affiliate, where he averaged 13.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists across eight games. Now, after another trade, Davis’ story is coming full circle.
A new chapter in familiar territory
The Wisconsin Herd announced a deal acquiring Johnny Davis’ returning player rights, bringing the former Badgers star back to Oshkosh, which is just a short drive from where he became a household name in Madison.
Shortly after the trade, the Milwaukee Bucks’ front office signed Davis to an Exhibit 10 contract. This move brings him back to his home state, where he can be closer to family and gives him a chance to prove himself within the organization that now controls his path back to the association.
Over his G League career, Davis has appeared in 25 games between the Capital City Go-Go and the Westchester Knicks, per Basketball Reference, averaging 10.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.3 steals while shooting 39.4% from the field, 29% on 3-point attempts, and 78.8% from the free-throw line. That said, he’s still the same 6-foot-4 guard with good size, instincts, positional strength, and a smooth midrange game.
The question now is whether he can put it all together again.
There were opportunities for Davis overseas that might have offered a bigger paycheck and a clearer path to playing time, but he chose the road less traveled. Rather than chase comfort, Davis is betting on himself, staying stateside to work his way back to the NBA through the G League.
The former Wisconsin star will suit up alongside Alex Antetokounmpo for the Wisconsin Herd, the Bucks’ G League affiliate in Oshkosh, playing for head coach Beno Udrih, where his comeback story now begins in full.
It’s a fitting twist for Davis, returning to the state where his basketball journey began. He’s still fighting to prove he belongs among the best, and this time, the Milwaukee Bucks organization is keeping close tabs.
Coming full circle
As Davis begins this next chapter of his basketball journey, it’s impossible not to look back on just how high his star once rose in Madison. For Wisconsin fans, his legacy with the Badgers isn’t just intact, it’s cemented.
Davis remains one of the most decorated players in the program’s already impressive history, having been recognized as a Lute Olson National Player of the Year, Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year, consensus First-Team All-American, Big Ten Player of the Year, Maui Invitational MVP, and USA Basketball gold medalist at the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup.
During that unforgettable 2021–22 season, Davis delivered moment after moment that cemented his place in program lore: from his 37-point explosion in a road win over No. 3 Purdue at Mackey Arena to his 30-point masterpiece against No. 12 Houston in the Maui Invitational. He led by example, playing through injuries, willing Wisconsin to victories, and giving the program an unmistakable identity built on toughness and belief.
It’s that version of Davis the Wisconsin Herd are hoping to rediscover.
The parallels are striking. In college, Davis played with an edge born from having to prove people wrong after getting overlooked by the blue-bloods. He turned overlooked potential into dominance. Now, in Oshkosh, he faces a similar challenge, but this time, it’s about survival, not stardom.
He’ll join a Herd team known for developing fringe NBA talent within the Bucks organization, a group that’s helped several players carve out NBA opportunities through the G League pipeline. If Davis can regain some confidence and continue to develop his game, there’s a potential path to an NBA return, possibly even in Milwaukee if everything breaks right.
It’s not the route anyone envisioned for the former lottery pick, but it fits who Davis has always been: a competitor, a Wisconsin kid who keeps finding his way back home. The Herd opens their season on Nov. 8, with the home opener set for Nov. 11, where Davis will begin this new chapter. And maybe that’s exactly where his story starts to turn in his favor again.
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